The Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, arraigned one Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, promoter of Bigibet, before Justice O.A. Okunuga of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
Abiodun and his company, Nobelsteed Nigerian Limited, are being prosecuted on a 10-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining under false pretence to the tune of N855 million.
In 2021, he allegedly approached the petitioner to introduce Nobelsteed, which he claimed was primarily into gaming business (lottery business).
He told the petitioner that he was raising capital for the proposed lottery business and also urged him to invest in Nobelsteed’s equity capital.
It was also alleged that the defendant convinced the petitioner that he had been in the industry for a long time.
In view of this, the petitioner allegedly keyed into it and also got some other people to invest in Nobelsteed.
It was further alleged that a total sum of N855,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty-Five Million Naira) was paid into Abiodun’s nominated bank account as a deposit for shares in the purported capital-raising exercise.
The defendant, however, allegedly reneged on his promise and failed to refund the investors.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Mr. Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, Nobelsteed Nigeria Limited, sometime between June 2021 and September 2021 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, deceitfully obtained the total sum of N855,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty-Five Million Naira) only, from several unsuspecting persons, through your GT Bank Account No. 0591549473, by falsely representing to them that the said amount was an investment for the purchase of Equity Share Capital of Nobelsteed Nigeria Limited, which representation you knew to be false, thereby committed an offence of obtaining money by false pretence, contrary to Sections 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.”
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charge.
In view of this, the prosecution counsel, A.M. Dambuwa, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed the court to remand the defendant in a correctional centre pending the trial.
The defence counsel, Adeyinka Abdulsalam, informed the court of a bail application, which he said had been served on the prosecution counsel.
Justice Okunuga ordered the defendant to be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
The judge adjourned till July 9, 2025, for the hearing of the bail application and September 17, 2025, for the commencement of trial.
